Nunn: SAVE means school safety increases, property taxes decrease

The Iowa Senate just passed $4.8 billion for property tax relief and $19 billion for school safety, technology and infrastructure. The program is called Securing an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE).

The road map we’ve laid out with bipartisan support does a few things. First, it makes sure schools are clear about what this funding is for — to keep buildings safe, modern and structurally sound. Just like anyone with kids in public school, I want my children to enjoy a safe learning environment equipped with the technology they need to get a 21st century skill-set. SAVE will help make that happen.

Zach Nunn(Photo: Special to the Register)

Second, SAVE respects the property owner and taxpayer. The $4.8 billion in funding to reduce property taxes is a serious commitment to respecting property owners. The clear spending guidelines in SAVE— safety, technology, infrastructure — will also make sure schools are held accountable to putting funds where they’re most needed. There are a couple school districts in the state of Iowa where they built colossal stadiums, and then they're the first ones to raise their hand and say, "I don't have any money to fix the roof this year." SAVE puts a check on that to make sure safety, technology and infrastructure are put first.

Finally, SAVE opens up opportunities to kids in every corner of the state. The reality is that today, schools are continuing to innovate how we teach classes. If you're in shop class now, you might go across town and go to a state-of-the-art shop where you're actually using a 3D printer or CAD machine. Or if you’re a STEM student, you might be working on computer programming in a new technology lab. Rural schools might not have those options, but through partnership, through infrastructure, they're now going to have a long-term opportunity to bring in some of the best technology into the classroom and return it back to our community.

That’s really what this is all about — an investment into where we see our kids and communities 10, 20 years from now. Twenty percent of this money doesn’t even come from Iowans, because people from out of state pay into it. But 100 percent of it gets directly invested back in our communities in the form of safer classrooms, better schools, smarter kids and lower property taxes.

Investing in Iowa firefighter training: Our first responders have some of the most critical jobs in our communities — keeping all Iowans safe. The U.S. Fire Administration reports that Iowa has 732 fire departments, and 90.2 percent of them are volunteer. As Iowans, we’re fortunate to have such a loyal force of first responders willing to spend time away from their families and in harm’s way to make our state a safer place. It’s critical that we support these public servants working to put community first by making sure they have access to proper training resources.

This year, I met with volunteers from Elkhart and Mitchellville to Baxter and Prairie City. After funding cuts in the Iowa House, I fought to add $50,000 into the Senate budget to ensure next year’s volunteers have first-class training. As vice chair on the public safety budget, I’m proud to stand with our volunteers who serve as the first line of defense in protecting our communities.

Thanks to all of the community support on these efforts, the Iowa Senate passed a budget line item to support the Iowa Fire Fighters’ Training Center. It will ensure access to training for volunteers who are not on-site and support township/community training requirements.

Kicking predatory lenders to the curb in Iowa: Across the country, predatory lending practices are a major issue, and Iowa is no exception. The term “predatory” has a broad definition, but often includes equity stripping via exorbitant fees, rate-risk disparities unfair to borrowers, or reckless lending leading to foreclosure. The Coalition for Responsible Lending reports that over 600,000 families and businesses in the U.S. are exploited by unfair interest charges alone!

Those are just some of the reasons why I was proud to lead the passage of a bill that will help finance loans with fee reimbursement through innovation at the local credit union and small bank level. We’ve seen time and time again that the most egregious predatory lenders often have out of state roots, so working with Iowa credit unions and Main Street banks on financial solutions to kick out-of-state predatory lenders to the curb is something we can all benefit from doing.

STATE SEN. ZACH NUNN, R-Bondurant, represents Senate District 15, which includes most of Jasper County and parts of eastern Polk County, including Altoona, Bondurant, Mitchellville and Runnells. He can be reached at 515-519-2246 or zach.nunn@legis.iowa.gov.